Considering the world through the lens of Viktor Frankl
Certain books are life-changing, resonating far beyond their date of publication. Resonating beyond time. Those books contain ideas that transform the way we think about ourselves and the world.
Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning,” first published in 1959, is that kind of transformational book. When a friend and I recently discussed our all-time favorite books, she mentioned “Man’s Search for Meaning.” She reads it periodically, she said, because it brings her a fresh perspective on life.
Our conversation brought me back to the time I first heard Dr. Frankl lecture at the Jewish Center on the Upper West Side. He was an older man, probably in his 80s by then, and his lecture was soft-spoken. His words about finding meaning and purpose in our lives were powerful and inspirational, hitting me viscerally.
I immediately bought the book, which transformed my own perspective and outlook on life.
Viktor Frankl was an Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, and Holocaust survivor. He developed the theory of logotherapy, a type of therapy based upon finding meaning, purpose, and value in life.
Dr. Frankl believed that the main way of finding meaning in life was by making a difference in the world, finding purpose, and adopting positive attitudes toward experiences. Logotherapy emphasizes the role of the individual’s sense of responsibility toward achieving goals, while the logotherapist’s role consists of helping clients open their eyes to the whole spectrum of potential meaning of their experiences. Ultimately, each person has the ability to respond through their own decisions, and not just by a passively lived life.
Over the years, and through many moves, I lost my original copy of “Man’s Search for Meaning.” This is the kind of book you don’t borrow from the public library. It requires a place in your own library, alongside your other dog-eared, beloved treasures.
And so I decided it was high time for me to revisit the book too, after this last, grueling year, when the search for meaning is on our minds. I bought a new copy — and it is now filled with highlighted passages and bent pages, and has a permanent place on my shelf.
While “Man’s Search for Meaning” is not an easy read, it’s the kind of book that changes a reader’s ideas and attitudes about suffering and life challenges. Rabbi Harold Kushner, the author of “When Bad Things Happen to Good People,” describes how Dr. Frankl’s writing influenced the way he counseled people by helping them understand that no matter how difficult the situation a person experiences, while there often are forces beyond our control, the one thing we can choose is how to respond.
Dr. Frankl’s experiences in the concentration camps further reinforced his principles of logotherapy. Although incredible to imagine, he found ways to find meaning while he was a prisoner.
He wrote in “Man’s Search for Meaning”: “In spite of all the enforced physical and mental primitiveness of life in concentration camp, it was possible for spiritual life to deepen. Sensitive people who were used to a rich intellectual life may have suffered much pain, but the damage to their inner selves was less.”
Dr. Frankl was also capable of experiencing the beauty of nature in the camps. “As the inner life of the prisoner tended to become more intense, we also experienced the beauty of art and nature as never before. When we beheld the mountains of Salzburg on the journey from Auschwitz to a Bavarian camp, with their summits glowing in the sunset, we were carried away by nature’s beauty.”
Not only was Dr. Frankl attuned to beauty, he also recognized the importance of retaining a sense of humor. “It is well known that humor can afford an ability to rise above any situation,” he wrote. “I suggested to a friend that we would promise to invent at least one amusing story about some incident that could happen on our liberation.”
There are so many inspirational passages in the book, but throughout, readers see that Viktor Frankl didn’t allow himself to lose hope about the world and the future. After the war, he became the head of the neurology department of the General Polyclinic Vienna hospital. He was also a visiting professor at Harvard University, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. He died in 1997, at the age of 92.
Dr. Frankl’s universal ideas of finding meaning and purpose are especially relevant right now. If he could find meaning, beauty, and even humor in a concentration camp, so could we experience those elements on our own journeys, and after such a stressful year, with Israel so deeply on our minds.
Finding meaning and purpose seems to be subjective. Everyone experiences it uniquely. Where and how do people find it? I looked toward my own community of friends to see what rings true in their lives.
Most people found family to be the most important source of meaning in their lives, but they had others as well.
Nechamy Simon, the rebbetzin of Chabad in Teaneck, loves connecting with people on a spiritual level. “I’m part of a bigger picture,” she said. “We all are. Our souls came down to the world for a purpose, and we can make a difference in this world. We can remind each other that we’re not just physical beings having spiritual experiences, but spiritual beings having physical experiences.
“When we focus on our divine souls, all our relationships will be enhanced.”
“Dancing with my Israeli dance group is very meaningful for me,” Sandi Grodko of Teaneck said. “When we hold hands in a circle and sing along to music like ‘Am Yisrael Chai,’ it’s so empowering.”
Wendy Levites recently made aliyah and now lives in Israel half of the year and in Florida the other half. “I love being here with my people, my nation, and family,” she said. “It’s so meaningful when I tell people we made aliyah, they become emotional and thank me. Sometimes people ask why we’ve made this decision, and I say, “I want to be a part of replacing the souls who were taken from us.’”
Lisa Green of Toronto finds meaning in certain tefillot — prayers — “particularly in these frightening and confusing times,” she said. “They provide a link to the past, showing we’ve always gotten through so many hard times, and will again.” Lisa also feels her long-lasting friendships are especially meaningful. “These friends know who I am, they laugh with me, reminisce with me, and make me stronger.”
For me, writing has always been meaningful and a way of understanding my experiences. I began journaling when I was 12, writing in a pink, very girly diary that came with a tiny lock and key. Back then, I kept my thoughts, fears, and hopes locked away. Now I enjoy sharing them. It’s incredibly empowering and meaningful when someone tells me they can relate to my experiences, the good, bad, and those in between.
May we all find meaning and purpose in our own lives.
Esther Kook of Teaneck is a reading and learning specialist and freelance writer.
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